Wood trims: restoring vs NOS replacement

[Whitemamba23]

Considering sending my wood trims to Madera concepts for refinishing or sourcing NOS replacements. Looking for your opinions on the pros/cons of both options and would love to see anyones input on this topic.

 

[Stevester 500E]

I would get them restored. One, they are original to your car. Two, a good restoration will be of better quality (clear coat longevity).

What color are the trims supposed to be? I have see dark tones and light tones.

 

[gsxr]

Restoring the originals is the best option. The original wood pieces were matched during assembly at the factory so the grain & color were all similar.

Buying NOS, if you could even find all the pieces, would be a real gamble as far as color and grain. Some of the new pieces I've seen are really, really dark (which is fine) but probably will not match the rest of the original wood, especially if you don't replace the door wood, or pull the dash to replace the dash woods.

 

[gerryvz]

You will be searching high and low for NOS pieces, and even then will never find a matched set that looks integrated and more or less the same color. Many if not most pieces are not even available anymore. And finding anything that is NOS, is finding a needle in a haystack.

MUCH more highly recommended to get your set done by Madera or another firm that specializes in wood finishing. They will also make sure that the set is matched, and any pieces that need re-veneering can be done at this time.

 

[kegmankipp]

Has anybody been in contact with Madera recently?

I’ve called and left two messages and also texted pics of the part to be refinished to the number on the answering machine and no reply for weeks.

 

[AMG5PT4]

i have had extensive work done by Madera recently - they restored the dark burl wood on the refrigerator that goes between the rear seats of my 500SEC widebody. They also did all my front wood restoration about 2 years ago. They aren't cheap, but they are the best of the best. Their work can be found on many Pebble Beach level show cars.

The fridge work was sent to them in November and I got it back in January.

Last email I had with them was in December. Jessica and Manuel Gonzalez are the co-owners. customerservice@maderaconcepts.com

Below are some before/after pics of some of the front wood work done a couple years ago - shift knob and the mahogany/burl center console box.

 

[AMG5PT4]

Pics of the fridge wood done by Madera recently and the before pics. The wood was in rough shape! One of the fridge pieces could not be saved so they made an exact replica with an aluminum substrate so the piece would not warp like the original. The piano hinges (4 of them) were badly corroded and they were able to source replacements from Germany. This fridge work alone was $2,300.

Al

 

[Whitemamba23]

Thank you for the insight!

Looks like I’ll be sending my trims to madera for refinishing soon